How can a human magnify the creator of all humans...how can a pot magnify the potter?
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,
et exsultávit spíritus meus
in Deo salvatóre meo,
quia respéxit humilitátem
ancíllæ suæ.
Ecce enim ex hoc beátam
me dicent omnes generatiónes,
quia fecit mihi magna,
qui potens est,
et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericórdia eius in progénies
et progénies timéntibus eum.
Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,
dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;
depósuit poténtes de sede
et exaltávit húmiles.
Esuriéntes implévit bonis
et dívites dimísit inánes.
Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,
recordátus misericórdiæ,
sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,
Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.
Glória Patri et Fílio
et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio,
et nunc et semper,
et in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.
She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child . . . Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God . . . None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.
(Commentary on the Magnificat, 1521; in Luther’s Works, Pelikan et al, vol. 21, 326)
In witnessing to Jews or Muslims, invariably they try to lump me and all Christians with the Papists. I get so tired of telling them that I actually agree with them, I view RCC statues of Mary as idolatrous as they do.
It is blatantly obvious to the rest of the world that Catholics do indeed worship Mary. Yet they deny it with a straight face, obfuscating the obvious...repeating the official line they must be getting from their priests.
No wonder the Reformers spoke of it as a whorish form of Christianity, a syncretism of Christianity and paganism.
Their idolatry is responsible for no telling how many Jews and Muslims being lost. A major stumbling block trying to witness to them.
We are all called to be lights of the world. “The Blessed Mother” as God’s messenger called her, is in spirit, fighting the good fight. She is the Ark of the Covenant, as prophecized in the Old Testament. Before you go on a rant, bad mouthing the woman that God chose to be our savior’s mother, please have a conversation with God and ask for His enlightenment and that of others.
She is our role model of a woman. A reminder that sacrifice, humility, and obedience to God, is what we are called to do. In an age where girls are sexualized by 10, and women are all about me, it is a very necessary gift from God, don’t you think?